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Conformity Assessment to Stimulate Innovation

January 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment

While it is very clear that conformity assessment is widely beneficial in most areas, there are many legitimate questions to be asked with regard to its impact on business and technological innovation. In some sense, the very notion of standardization does seem to conflict with the creative spirit of individualistic freedom. This is an area where the International Organization for Standardization uses its best judgement. The ISO is aware that some types of regulation can stifle the creativity of markets. This is not the intent of standardization itself. However, where the ISO is perhaps shortsighted of an issue, the commitment to ISO regulations is always voluntary and doing so will in most cases only benefit the participating organization.

Very rarely does the ISO implement a standard that could be potentially stifling to innovations of all sorts. There are many information technology standards that deal with media formats and standardized computer products. Technological standards are something that has always been contentious as pieces of technology have been defined by their duplicatable formats and media types. In this situation, any format chosen as an international standard format will perhaps run the risk of stifling the development of any other competing formats. On the other hand, if no uniform format is chosen, this would defeat the very purpose of standardization as a means to widely disseminate this valuable technology to potential consumers all over the world.

In most other areas that do not deal with the technological establishment of formatting standards, there is very little the ISO can do to really stifle technological or business innovations. This is of course unless you consider the intentional pursuit of poor business practices to be some form of innovation. Standardization may force businesses to get creative.

In the end, there are numerous benefits to conformity assessment. Standardization is meant to be a generally positive experience for everyone even though it may inspire people and businesses to adapt to certain new criteria.

Filed Under: Assessment, Education Tagged With: , ,

The Process of Standardization

January 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Conformity assessment is the process of standardizing the quality of goods and services. Conformity assessment builds consumer confidence by ensuring the consistency and value of our products. Part of this standardization involves the actual scientific establishment of suitable standards. The International Standards Organization sets these standards that are guaranteed to ensure the quality of our goods and services. This has the effect of generally harmonizing business practices. Conformity assessment mostly achieves this goal in three distinct ways:  testing, inspection, and implementation.

The International Standards Organization is also the party responsible for establishing these regulations. When establishing standards there are several phases. They include the preliminary stage, the proposal stage, the preparatory stage, the committee stage, the inquiry stage, the approval stage, the publication stage, the review stage, and the withdrawal stage if needed. The publication stage most often becomes the international standard though it may be subject to change as evidenced by both the existence of the review and withdrawal stages.

The process of establishing standards is demanding and scientifically rigorous. In the proposal stage a the investigation of a standard is brought forth as a potential project. From here the subject must be prepped for research, inquiry, and criticism. Technical committees are responsible for many parts of the process that see the idea through to becoming established as an international standard. For a standard to be established it must convincingly pass committee. This essentially means that there are no substantive or major objections to the standard considering its science and potential consequences.

In the end, the International Standards Organization performs many functions as a responsible non-governmental organization. In addition to its duties in the area of testing and inspection, one of the most important functions is the business of actually setting standards. The ISO is fairly transparent in its process. The procedure for establishing standards is scientifically rooted, practically minded, and most often very well suited to the demands of the international business community.

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Conformity Assessment: Who’s Watching the Watch Dog?

January 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The International Standards Organization or ISO is technically a non-governmental organization though it does have strong ties to individual governments. In some sense, the ISO behaves more like a government despite the fact that it is a non-governmental organization. The ISO should be, in theory, somewhat accountable to the individual and collective governments that it serves. The ISO’s main task seems to be the establishment of international standards as this pertains to business and international trade. The ISO consists of representatives for each country, over two thousand technical committees, subcommittees, and working groups. These working groups develop the standards by many methods of research. In this sense, the ISO largely sets its own standards for setting standards. Implementing those standards, however, is more of a cooperative endeavor.

On some level, the advantage of ISO certification has to do with the fact that it is entirely voluntary. The ISO has access to experts in every field, and it strives to make the best decisions possible with its standards. It’s actually in the ISO’s interest to perform this task well. Receiving ISO certification is in many ways similar to earning a credential which verifies the overall consistency of your business. While the motivation for both acts appears to be monetary, the ISO does have a positive influence particularly in areas where human safety is concerned.

In the end, the ISO is on some level a privately motivated creator of international standards. Though the ISO has received criticism for functioning as a partial business entity in itself, the International Standards Organization does produce important work that positively influences business practices all over the world. In addition to making business practices more efficient and safer, the ISO has helped our ability to prosper and trade more freely than ever before. Businesses with ISO certification appeal to consumers out of confidence. Likewise, the ISO itself appeals to governmental and non-governmental bodies for being a sensible regulatory voice that speaks internationally.

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How Does Conformity Assessment Help Businesses Around the World?

November 17, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Because conformity assessment does deal with international situations where goods and/or services are concerned, successfully completing this process means those users in the United States, as well as users in other parts of the world, can be assured that the product or services will be as good in one place as they are in another. In the case of internet services, this means that if your search engine meets conformity assessment standards.  When it shows you the results for onlineeducation.com, you can be pretty sure that the results will be or should be fairly accurate.

Meeting conformity assessment standards means that companies don’t have to worry that much about dealing with foreign businesses. The standards set forth by ISO/IEC are rather exacting, and are the same for any company who requests to be considered for ISO/IEC certification. The areas of testing, surveillance, auditing, certification, and registration, which are only a few of the areas covered in conformity assessment, are identical, and companies have to meet the same requirements.

Businesses around the world that are conscientious enough to strive for ISO/IEC certification can almost be assured of receiving more business than those who do not hold such certification. Other businesses will feel confident doing business with them because they have at least one thing in common: their standing with ISO/IEC.

In sumamry, because of the standardization of important product standards, conformity assessment gives consumers a more consistent experience with products.  For businesses, the stamp of approval from the ISO/IEC gives a great selling point that will help the company close sales and win over new clients.  Further, being listed on conformity assessment sites is a great referral for consumers who find their way to such a site.

Filed Under: Assessment Tagged With: , ,

Conformity Assessment and How it Relates to International Trade

November 16, 2010 by Leave a Comment

In addition to inciting consumer purchasing power by encouraging confidence in products, the act of setting forth a uniform set of standards that must be met by all product manufacturers has a far reaching effect on the arena of international trade.

One of the most noticeable benefits is that by encouraging all relevant nations to follow specific procedures, potential barriers of international trade can be lessened or removed entirely.

The World Trade Organisation established an agreement on technical barriers to trade. The purpose of such an agreement was to ensure that the process of ensuring that international trade is not hampered when conformity assessment procedures are followed. In fact, the World Trade Organisation has a strong belief that one of the main things that restricts the free flow of international goods and services is technical barriers, which is one of the main reasons why the above agreement was established.

Under the agreement, it is implied that a product’s reliability and competence can be best measured by testing the product against those specific things that are examined during the conformity assessment testing procedures.

The International Standardisation Organisation (ISO) works alongside the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to ensure that conformity assessment standards are followed by all applicable countries in a way that facilitates trade and does so in a way that is economically and efficiently feasible.

The main goal and focus here is to ensure that products are allowed to enter a market that is as free of obstacles as possible. By that same token however, it is important that such goods and services agree to comply with the standards testing afforded by conformity assessment procedures. By making this pledge, manufacturers of products within many countries are agreeing to stand behind the quality and workmanship of their products, allowing for a greater amount of consumer confidence and satisfaction.

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What Is Conformity Assessment?

November 10, 2010 by Leave a Comment

If you have ever been seen the words “Conforms to ISO standard…” followed by a string of numbers and words, then you have seen an example of conformity assessment.

With technology advances literally bringing the world to our doorstep, if not inside our homes and offices, conformity assessment has become very important. This is because conformity assessment is used to ensure that a product, process, or service has met specific standards relative to its product type, as well as having met all requirements necessary for “conformity standards.”

Conformity assessment standards are put out by the International Standardization Organization (ISO), which is also sometimes listed as the International Organization for Standardization. The criteria used for conformity assessment may include product, process, or service testing, or even actually watching while ordinary usage procedures are carried out. The criteria can also include inspection and/or auditing, as well as determining if certification, registration, and accreditation standards have been met.

Conformity assessment can apply to any number of things, not the least of which can be internet usage, especially for internet based companies. This can include websites, search engines, and other online businesses.

A business or organization that cares enough to make sure that it undergoes conformity assessment and fulfills the requirements for it is a company that is likely to be a good one to do business with. You can check for conformity assessment standings by going to an informational site, such as earnmydegree.com, and checking for conformity assessment information of the various online universities that offer online degrees.

If the online university does not provide conformity assessment information on its website, you should not be shy about contacting it in another way and asking about it. After all, it’s your education you are concerned about, and they should be willing to tell you anything you need to know.

Filed Under: Requirements, State Tests Tagged With: , ,